I Don’t Want To Be The Protagonist of a Romance Novel – Chapter 38

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Alright, let’s take it one step at a time.

It wasn’t just Eileen’s voice that was trembling.

Her black pupils were shaking as if an earthquake had struck, unable to focus properly, and her long, slender eyelashes quivered.

“Don’t tell me…” Eileen alternated her gaze between me and Arwen.

Eileen, “you too.”

The meaning of those words was that I already knew Arwen had regressed to the past.

And at the same time, while Arwen’s regression was a “fact” that I already knew, Eileen’s regression was still just a hunch, and I hadn’t asked about it with any concrete evidence.

Now, there were two possible reactions I could expect from Eileen here.

Either she could attempt an unconvincing persuasion, saying what I was talking about and trying to avoid the current situation, or she could acknowledge the fact and attempt a direct confrontation.

As I pondered what answer would come out of Eileen’s mouth, her lips slowly parted after a long silence.

“…Rudrick. I didn’t intend to deceive you.”

“I merely hesitated because I thought you might not believe me if I suddenly said it outright…”

“Well, that’s understandable. Who would believe it if someone suddenly came and said that out of the blue?” I replied.

“…Did Arwen tell you?”

“No.”

I shook my head in response to Eileen’s question.

Let’s assume that I didn’t know the fact that all five of them had regressed.

And if we made that assumption, I slowly ran a simulation in my mind of how I would have thought.

The catalyst would, of course, be Arwen coming and revealing that she had regressed.

It was a kind of trigger that turned suspicion into certainty.

At that time in the secret research lab, I already knew that fact, so I had just played along.

If I didn’t know, I would have requested more thorough evidence to make me believe that Arwen had regressed.

And after learning that Arwen had regressed, I would have slowly lined up the suspects and observed them, wouldn’t I?

The suspects who would make it onto that list would naturally be narrowed down quickly.

‘Eileen, and even the Princess. I might not have been certain about Sylphia… So it would have been confirmed as just the two for now.’

If they showed excessive kindness without any apparent reason or paid excessive attention to me, it would be enough to put them on the suspect list.

After going through a series of reasoning and reaching this point, I answered with a grin.

“Arwen didn’t tell me. But her revealing that she had regressed became the catalyst itself.”

“…Catalyst.”

“Actually, it’s a bit strange to anyone. Everyone is unusually kind to me, only to me.”

“……”

“I’m not that incredibly handsome, my family is humble, and I don’t have any special charm, so it’s indeed strange to see everyone so eager to help me, right?”

A conclusion reached through sufficiently rational reasoning.

However, almost simultaneously, Arwen and Eileen exchanged glances and then shook their heads and sighed.

“…That part of you is the same as always.”

“For once, I agree. Does he even look in the mirror properly?”

“Being that dense should be considered a sin, even if you say it is.”

“It’s even worse considering it’s not intentional and he’s not even aware of it.”

Huh?

Wasn’t I just making a perfect deduction like a certain elementary school detective who brings death everywhere?

The reaction was more lukewarm than I expected…

“…What?”

“It’s nothing. But…” Eileen shook her head and lowered it slightly to match my eye level. Then, she stared at me and spoke.

“As I said, I had no intention of deceiving you, Rudrick. It was just that my courage was lacking to say it outright. You can criticize me for that, but… I fear being misunderstood.”

“It’s okay. If I put myself in your shoes, I can fully understand. You don’t need to apologize like this.”

“……”

“Instead, there’s one thing I’m curious about.”

“…What is it?”

Now it was time to move on to the most important main point.

In fact, I didn’t really care whether Eileen had any intention of deceiving me or doing something.

I could fully understand that by putting myself in her shoes and applying the family substitution method.

Her position was understandable.

But there was still one crucial thing left.

“Eileen, before you regressed.”

“…Before?”

“Why did I die then?”

Eileen’s expression, which had been relieved just a moment ago, stiffened again in an instant.

No, to be honest, even I felt strange asking why I had died.

But I still needed to know.

Whether I had been walking down the street and got hit by a stray magic spell, resulting in an untimely death, or if I had been sick with a terminal illness, wasting away until I died.

Arwen also had a shocked expression, which made me feel uneasy, but I had to know.

And then…

“…First, it would be faster to start with talking about your innate talent for magic, Rudrick,” Eileen slowly opened her mouth after hesitating.

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After hearing the entire story, the conclusion I reached was simple.

Indeed, there was nothing easy in this world.

All this time, I had firmly believed that since I had even gone through reincarnation under the guise of possession, I had obtained a tremendous magical talent as a kind of special privilege in return.

But the reality was the law of equivalent exchange.

“So Eileen, it means that too much mana has accumulated, and I’ve become a constitution that absorbs it… And because of that, I gain talent in exchange for my mana circuits becoming distorted, and when it reaches a certain level, I go ‘ugh!’ and die, right?”

Eileen gravely nodded her head in response to my question that clearly summarized the core points.

Arwen was fidgeting and watching from the side like someone who had committed a sin.

This is frustrating.

Even if I make a name for myself as the great mage Rudrick in the future, what’s the point if I die soon after?

“…But I’m searching for a way in every possible direction, so it won’t be long.”

“Actually, I’m not too worried.”

“…?”

“If we didn’t know the cause, that would be one thing, but we do know the cause. Then we should be able to find a way quickly.”

Of course, it wasn’t just empty words to reassure Eileen.

Let’s think about it carefully.

Comparing the me before the regression in the past and the current me, it was obvious that the magical capabilities of the past me would be incomparably superior.

That was natural because the period of practicing magic itself was different.

However, apart from that, the past me had become unable to do anything about it, like a terminal cancer patient, by the time the cause was discovered, while the current me had plenty of time before reaching that critical state.

If I were to apply it to my previous life, even with modern medicine, it was impossible to completely cure terminal cancer, but if it was diagnosed at an early stage before the symptoms manifested, the survival rate would increase significantly.

If I tried to think positively, there were plenty of other reasons I could attach to it.

“…Rudrick.”

Arwen trailed off beside me.

She was giving me a strange look, as if she was watching someone trying hard to think brightly and positively, but honestly, this was a bit unfair.

Right now, it seemed like I would die faster from a broken heart than from the mana saturation.

Moreover, she was the cause of it.

“What.”

“……”

Arwen couldn’t answer my naturally grumpy response and only gave me a pitiful look.

On top of that, even Eileen, whom I had trusted, joined forces with her.

Hey, this is a bit infuriating.

“In the first place, I’m more likely to die from the stress of constantly mediating your fights than from that terminal diagnosis, you know?”

“W-why is the conversation suddenly heading in that direction?”

“So stop fighting already. Why do you keep fighting every time you make eye contact? Arwen, you fought with Sylphia last time too, didn’t you?”

“…!”

Arwen, who had been looking at me with a pitiful expression just a moment ago, hurriedly averted her gaze.

And next, it was Eileen’s turn.

“Eileen, the same goes for you.”

“…Are you talking about me?”

“Who on earth draws their sword first when meeting someone? Were you planning to swing it? In my room? Then where am I supposed to sleep now?”

“T-that was to protect you…!”

“As if you could protect me well.”

Easily K.O.’d.

Eileen also hurriedly averted her gaze.

Sigh, I’d rather die than suffer.

In the system, they were labeled as the main heroines or something like that.

But looking at their actions, it felt more like taking care of five grown-up children with immature mental ages rather than five main heroines.

But what can I do?

Like it or not, they were the ones who would help me treat my incurable non-disease, and sometimes they had cute aspects too, so I just had to endure it.

Grumbling inwardly, I got up from my seat.

“Then let’s slowly head back to the research lab now. That contract or whatever should be almost finished by now.”

“…Alright.”

Eileen, who had been carefully gauging my mood, promptly nodded her head.

“…Um, Rudrick.”

“Yes?”

“C-can I come with you too?”

But when I turned my head at the touch of someone gently grabbing the hem of my clothes, Arwen hesitantly spoke.

“You want to come along too?”

“…Yes.”

I didn’t know why she suddenly wanted to come along, but… it shouldn’t be a problem, right?

“Okay.”

“…Thank you.”

With a brightened expression at my approval, Arwen transformed back into a cat with a shimmering light.

And just before that, it seemed like the corners of her mouth had curled up while looking in Eileen’s direction…

Well, it must have been my imagination.

I picked up Arwen, who had obediently transformed into a cat.

“……”

As I finished preparing to leave and slightly turned my head, Eileen was silently trembling.

…What’s wrong with her all of a sudden?

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